Saturday, 11 October 2014

The
monarch butterfly is one of the most iconic insects in the world, best known
for its distinct orange and black wings and a spectacular annual mass migration
across North America. However, little has been known about the genes that
underlie these famous traits, even as the insect's storied migration appears to
be in peril. Sequencing the genomes of monarch butterflies from around the
world, a team of scientists has now made surprising new insights into the
monarch's genetics. They identified a single gene that appears central to
migration -- a behavior generally regarded as complex -- and another that
controls pigmentation. The researchers also shed light on the evolutionary
origins of the monarch. They report their findings Oct. 1 in Nature."The
results of this study shift our whole thinking about these butterflies,"
said study senior author Marcus Kronforst, PhD, Neubauer Family Assistant
Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.

Every
year, millions of monarchs fly from as far north as Canada to spend the winter
in Mexico. Predominantly a North American species, the monarch also exists in
South and Central America, and has relatively recently spread across the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Only North American monarchs migrate.

A North
American Original

To better
understand monarch genetics and the basis for migratory behavior, Kronforst's
team sequenced and compared the genomes of 101 butterflies, including migratory
North American monarchs, non-migratory monarchs from around the world and a few
closely related species.The researchers analyzed the monarch's evolutionary
origins using genetic comparisons. They traced the ancestral lineage of
monarchs to a migratory population that likely originated in the southern U.S.
or Mexico. The monarch's current worldwide distribution appears to stem from
three separate dispersal events -- to Central and South America; across the
Atlantic; and across the Pacific. In all three cases, the butterfly
independently lost its migratory behavior.

The
monarch's North American origin runs counter to a long-standing hypothesis that
the butterfly originated from a non-migratory tropical species, which later
developed the ability to migrate. While historical records have suggested that
the monarch's dispersal across the Pacific and Atlantic occurred in the 1800s,
the analysis indicated the monarch actually crossed the oceans thousands of
years ago. The authors note that more work needs to be done to fully document
the butterfly's evolutionary history."In order to clearly resolve the
history of monarch butterflies, we still need additional fossil, archaeological
and genetic data, as well as more advanced technology, becoming available in
the future," said study author Shuai Zhan, PhD, a professor in Shanghai
Institutes for Biological Sciences and a former joint postdoctoral fellow at
the University of Chicago and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Slow and
Steady

To study
the genetic basis for migration, the team compared the genomes of migratory
butterflies against the three non-migratory populations. They identified more
than 500 genes -- most of which are involved in muscle, developmental and
neural function -- that differed to some degree. But a single gene disparity
stood out.Migratory butterflies expressed greatly reduced levels of collagen IV
α-1, a gene involved in flight muscle formation and function. The team
discovered that migratory monarchs consumed less oxygen and had significantly
lowered flight metabolic rates, which likely increases their ability to fly
long distances compared to non-migratory butterflies."Migration is
regarded as a complex behavior, but every time that the butterflies have lost
migration, they change in exactly the same way, in this one gene involved in
flight muscle efficiency," said Kronforst. "In populations that have
lost migration, efficiency goes down, suggesting there is a benefit to flying
fast and hard when they don't need to migrate."

The Color
Gene

The
researchers also investigated the genetic basis for the monarch's famous
coloration. A small percentage of monarchs, most notably in Hawaii, possess
white and black wings instead of orange. Comparing the genomes of these
butterflies against normally colored populations, the team discovered a single
gene appears to function as a pigmentation switch.

This
gene, which codes for a protein of the myosin motor protein family, has never
before been implicated in insect coloration. Its mutation likely disrupts the
pigment transport to the wings, making the monarchs white. A related gene in
mice, myosin 5a, has been shown to affect coat color in a similar way. The gene
represents a new genetic pathway to explore insect coloration, according to
Kronforst.

Migration
in Peril

Although
the monarch isn't in danger of extinction, its famous mass migration across
North America appears to be in peril. In 1996, around one billion monarchs migrated
to Mexico for the winter. Estimates for the past year place the number at
around 35 million. A likely culprit is the loss of milkweed, the monarch's
primary habitat, due to agricultural herbicide use. Meanwhile, monarchs that
used to migrate are transitioning into non-migratory populations around the
Gulf Coast.

The
results of this study emphasize the need for conservation efforts to preserve
the iconic migration and extend the extraordinary evolutionary history of the
monarch butterfly, according to the authors."You used to see huge numbers
of monarchs, clouds of them passing by," said Kronforst. "Now it
looks quite possible that in the not too distant future, this annual migration
won't happen."The study, "The genetics of monarch butterfly migration
and warning colouration," was supported by the National Institutes of
Health, the National Science Foundation and Neubauer Funds from the University
of Chicago.

2)
52-million-year-old amber preserves 'ant-loving' beetle:

Scientists
have uncovered the fossil of a 52-million-year old beetle that likely was able
to live alongside ants -- preying on their eggs and usurping resources --
within the comfort of their nest. The fossil, encased in a piece of amber from
India, is the oldest-known example of this kind of social parasitism, known as
"myrmecophily." Published today in the journal Current Biology, the
research also shows that the diversification of these stealth beetles, which
infiltrate ant nests around the world today, correlates with the ecological
rise of modern ants. "Although ants are an integral part of most
terrestrial ecosystems today, at the time that this beetle was walking the
Earth, ants were just beginning to take off, and these beetles were right there
inside the ant colonies, deceiving them and exploiting them," said lead
author Joseph Parker, a research associate at the American Museum of Natural
History and postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, who is a specialist
on these beetles. "This tells us something not just about the beetles, but
also about the ants -- their nests were big enough and resource-rich enough to
be worthy of exploitation by these super-specialized insects. And when ants
exploded ecologically and began to dominate, these beetles exploded with
them."

Today,
there are about 370 described species belonging to Clavigeritae, a group of
myrmecophilous, or "ant-loving" beetles about 1-3 millimeters in
length, and Parker estimates that several times this number of species still
await discovery. Remarkable adaptations enable these beetles to bypass the
fortresslike security of ant nests, which employ a pheromone code of
recognition that ants use to identify, and then dismember and consume,
intruders. Through ways that scientists are still trying to understand, Clavigeritae
beetles pass through these defenses and integrate seamlessly into colony life.

"Adopting
this lifestyle brings lots of benefits. These beetles live in a climate-
controlled nest that is well protected against predators, and they have access
to a great deal of food, including the ants' eggs and brood, and, most
remarkably, liquid food regurgitated directly to their mouths by the worker
ants themselves," Parker said. "But pulling off this way of life
means undergoing drastic morphological changes."Clavigeritae beetles look
quite different from their closest relatives, with fusions of segments within
the abdomen and antennae -- likely meant to provide additional protection from
the ants, which often pick the beetles up and carry them around the nest -- and
mouthparts that are recessed inside the head in order to accept liquid food
from worker ants. They also have glands that cover the body with oily
secretions, and thick brushes of hair on top of their abdomens, called
trichomes, which act as candlewicks and conduct chemical-containing secretions
from nearby glands. The makeup of these chemicals is unknown, but they are
thought to encourage ants to "adopt" rather than attack the beetles.

"If
you watch one of these beetles interact inside an ant colony, you'll see the
ants running up to it and licking those brush-like structures," Parker
said.Although Clavigeritae beetles are species-rich, they are quite rarely
encountered in nature and so, unsurprisingly, the newly discovered specimen --
brought to Parker's attention by American Museum of Natural History curator
David Grimaldi, who is an expert in amber fossils -- is thought to be the first
fossil of this group to be discovered. Named Protoclaviger trichodens by Parker
and Grimaldi, the Eocene fossil is from an amber deposit in what was once a
rain-forest environment in modern-day India. Although its body is very similar
to modern Clavigeritae beetles, with two stark, hook-like trichomes, some of
its characteristics are clearly more primitive. For example, Protoclaviger's
abdominal segments are still distinct, whereas in modern beetles they are fused
together into a single shieldlike segment.

3)
Batteries included: A solar cell that stores its own power:

Is it a
solar cell? Or a rechargeable battery? Actually, the patent-pending device
invented at The Ohio State University is both: the world's first solar
battery.In the October 3, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Communications, the
researchers report that they've succeeded in combining a battery and a solar
cell into one hybrid device.Key to the innovation is a mesh solar panel, which
allows air to enter the battery, and a special process for transferring
electrons between the solar panel and the battery electrode. Inside the device,
light and oxygen enable different parts of the chemical reactions that charge
the battery.

The
university will license the solar battery to industry, where Yiying Wu,
professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State, says it will help tame
the costs of renewable energy.

"The
state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light, and then use a
cheap battery to store the energy," Wu said. "We've integrated both
functions into one device. Any time you can do that, you reduce cost."

He and
his students believe that their device brings down costs by 25 percent.The
invention also solves a longstanding problem in solar energy efficiency, by
eliminating the loss of electricity that normally occurs when electrons have to
travel between a solar cell and an external battery. Typically, only 80 percent
of electrons emerging from a solar cell make it into a battery.With this new
design, light is converted to electrons inside the battery, so nearly 100
percent of the electrons are saved.

The
design takes some cues from a battery previously developed by Wu and doctoral
student Xiaodi Ren. They invented a high-efficiency air-powered battery that
discharges by chemically reacting potassium with oxygen. The design won the
$100,000 clean energy prize from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2014, and the
researchers formed a technology spinoff called KAir Energy Systems, LLC to
develop it.

"Basically,
it's a breathing battery," Wu said. "It breathes in air when it
discharges, and breathes out when it charges."

For this
new study, the researchers wanted to combine a solar panel with a battery
similar to the KAir. The challenge was that solar cells are normally made of
solid semiconductor panels, which would block air from entering the battery.

Doctoral
student Mingzhe Yu designed a permeable mesh solar panel from titanium gauze, a
flexible fabric upon which he grew vertical rods of titanium dioxide like
blades of grass. Air passes freely through the gauze while the rods capture
sunlight.

Normally,
connecting a solar cell to a battery would require the use of four electrodes,
the researchers explained. Their hybrid design uses only three.The mesh solar
panel forms the first electrode. Beneath, the researchers placed a thin sheet
of porous carbon (the second electrode) and a lithium plate (the third
electrode). Between the electrodes, they sandwiched layers of electrolyte to
carry electrons back and forth.Here's how the solar battery works: during
charging, light hits the mesh solar panel and creates electrons. Inside the
battery, electrons are involved in the chemical decomposition of lithium
peroxide into lithium ions and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air, and
the lithium ions are stored in the battery as lithium metal after capturing the
electrons.When the battery discharges, it chemically consumes oxygen from the
air to re-form the lithium peroxide.

An iodide
additive in the electrolyte acts as a "shuttle" that carries
electrons, and transports them between the battery electrode and the mesh solar
panel. The use of the additive represents a distinct approach on improving the
battery performance and efficiency, the team said.The mesh belongs to a class
of devices called dye-sensitized solar cells, because the researchers used a
red dye to tune the wavelength of light it captures.

In tests,
they charged and discharged the battery repeatedly, while doctoral student Lu
Ma used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze how well the electrode
materials survived -- an indication of battery life.First they used a ruthenium
compound as the red dye, but since the dye was consumed in the light capture,
the battery ran out of dye after eight hours of charging and discharging -- too
short a lifetime. So they turned to a dark red semiconductor that wouldn't be
consumed: hematite, or iron oxide -- more commonly called rust.Coating the mesh
with rust enabled the battery to charge from sunlight while retaining its red
color. Based on early tests, Wu and his team think that the solar battery's
lifetime will be comparable to rechargeable batteries already on the market.

4) Second
case of apparent HIV 'cure' in baby followed by reappearance of virus:

The case
report, published in The Lancet, is the second report of apparent viral
remission followed by rebound in a baby given early ART treatment, after the
case of the 'Mississippi baby' received widespread attention in 2013―14.

A team of
researchers, including Professor Mario Clerici at the University of Milan and
the Don Gnocchi Foundation in Milan, Italy, report that the baby―born to an
HIV-positive mother in December 2009―appeared to have been cured of HIV at age
three years, after intensive ART treatment was begun shortly after birth.

Tests to
measure the amount of HIV in the child's blood (viral load) indicated that the
virus had been eradicated. Notably, even antibodies to HIV had disappeared,
showing that the baby was no longer seropositive and, with the agreement of the
child's mother, ART was stopped.However, two weeks later, the child's HIV tests
came back positive, leading the researchers to conclude that the viral
reservoirs had not been eliminated by ART, despite the virus being undetectable
for more than 3 years.

There are
differences between this case, and that of the Mississippi baby (as well as the
'Berlin patient' Timothy Ray Brown, thought to be the only adult to be cured of
HIV); importantly, the child's immune system continued to show multiple signs
of responding to HIV infection even after the viral load became undetectable,
which was not the case for either the Mississippi baby or the Berlin
patient.The authors also suggest that the child's high viral load at birth, as
well as an infection while in the womb, and low birthweight, may have also
precluded long-lasting viral remission.The case report concludes that,
"The availability of many classes of potent antiretroviral drugs has
substantially decreased HIV morbidity and mortality, but these drugs cannot
eradicate the virus because they do not eliminate viral reservoirs. The search
for an HIV cure continues."

5) Signal
of elusive Majorana particle emerges in a nanowire:

Evidence
backs existence of exotic entity that is its own antiparticle. Blips of
electric current at the end of an atom-thick wire have brought physicists one
step closer to confirming the existence of Majorana fermions, particles
proposed 77 years ago that are their own antiparticles.

The new
experiment, described October 2 in Science, does not definitively prove that
these particles exist. But it provides compelling evidence that complements
findings from previous research.

“The
level of evidence is enough for an arrest but not for the death penalty,” says
Leo Kouwenhoven, a physicist at the Delft University of Technology in the
Netherlands, whose team has also seen hints of Majorana particles. If
confirmed, these exotic particles could help scientists overcome a major
barrier toward creating quantum computers.

Directed
by David Fincher and based upon the global bestseller by Gillian Flynn, Gone
Girl unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of
his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his
beautiful wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the
police and a growing media frenzy, Nick’s portrait of a blissful union begins
to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking
the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

She
terrified you in “The Conjuring,” but this is where it all began for
Annabelle.Capable of unspeakable evil, the actual doll exists locked up in an
occult museum in Connecticut—visited only by a priest who blesses her twice a
month.New Line Cinema’s supernatural thriller “Annabelle” begins before the
evil was unleashed.

John Form
has found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia—a beautiful, rare
vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia’s delight with Annabelle
doesn’t last long.On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a
satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not
all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity so malevolent that
nothing they did will compare to the sinister conduit to the damned that is
now… Annabelle.

follows
Rayford Steele (Nicolas Cage) who is piloting a commercial airliner just hours
after the Rapture when millions of people around the globe simply vanish.
Thirty thousand feet over the Atlantic, Rayford is faced with a damaged plane,
terrified passengers, and a desperate desire to get back to his family. On the
ground, his daughter, Chloe Steele (Cassi Thomson) is among those left behind,
forced to navigate a world of madness as she searches for her lost mother and
brother

A chance
encounter of the unassuming bank receptionist Harleen Sahni with the charming
yet mysterious Rajveer Nanda, results in an on-rush of ditched planes, car
chases, shoot-outs, bombing raids and general global mayhem. But as the
transcontinental chase ensues with Rajveer convincing Harleen that he's the
good guy, can she really trust him, and will trust matter when the bullets
start flying?

This is
an adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', Haider - a young man returns
home to Kashmir on receiving news of his father's disappearance. Not only does
he learn that security forces have detained his father for harboring militants,
but that his mother is in a relationship with his very own uncle. Intense drama
follows between mother and son as both struggle to come to terms with news of
his father's death. Soon Haider learns that his uncle is responsible for the
gruesome murder, what follows is his journey to avenge his father's death.

Almost an entire century after the world’s cinematic introduction
to Dracula placed audiences under his haunting spell, the studio that pioneered
the genre reawakens one of legend’s most captivating figures in an
action-adventure that heralds a pulse-pounding rebirth of the age of monsters.

Luke
Evans transforms from the cursed man history knows as Vlad the Impaler to an
all-powerful creature of the night in Universal Pictures’ Dracula Untold, the
origin story of the alluring immortal we have come to fear as the sun sets:
Dracula.

The year
is 1462, and Transylvania has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace under the
just and fair rule of the battle-weary Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, and his
beloved and brave wife, Mirena (SARAH GADON of The Amazing Spider-Man 2).
Together, they have brokered peace for their country and ensured its people are
well-protected, especially from the powerful Ottoman Empire—an ever-expanding
scourge that has its sights on global domination.

But when
Sultan Mehmed II demands 1,000 of Wallachia’s boys, including Vlad’s own son,
Ingeras be torn from their parents’ homes and forced to become child soldiers
in his army, Vlad must decide: do the same as his father before him and give up
his son to the sultan, or seek the help of a monster to defeat the Turks but
ultimately doom his soul to a life of servitude.

Vlad
journeys to Broken Tooth Mountain, where he encounters a foul demon and enters
into a Faustian bargain—one that gives the prince the strength of 100 men, the
speed of a falling star and enough power to crush his enemies. However, he will
be inflicted with an insatiable thirst to drink human blood.

If by the
end of three days Vlad manages to resist, he will return to his former self,
and perhaps in that time manage to save his people. Though should he drink, he
will be forced to dwell in the darkness for the rest of his days, feeding only
on the blood of humans...and destroying all that he holds dear.

Political
News This Week:

1) 5
killed, 34 injured in heavy shelling by Pakistan along IB:

In one of
the worst ceasefire violations by Pakistan, 5 villagers were killed and 34
injured on Monday in heavy mortar shelling and firing from across the
international border and Line of Control in Jammu and Poonch sectors,
triggering strong condemnation by India.Pakistani troops indulged in heavy and
unprovoked firing and shelling of mortars on 10 border outposts and civilian
areas along international border in Arnia belt of Jammu district from 10 PM
spilling over to this morning, a BSF spokesman said.BSF troops retaliated
effectively and gave a befitting reply, he said, adding that the intermittent
firing exchanges were on in the area when reports last came in.

In the
shelling, five villagers were killed and 34 injured in several hamlets, SSP,
Jammu, Uttam Chand told PTIIn New Delhi, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley deplored
the ceasefire violations from across the border and said the Indian armed
forces were "fully ready" and are responding to each of these
provocations from across the border.Home Minister Rajnath Singh said,
"Pakistan should stop ceasefire violations now and understand the reality
that times have changed in India."

J-K Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah strongly condemned the shelling on civilians, saying
targeting them exposed the frustration of the Pakistani government after its
failure to gain international attention on the Kashmir issue.

"They
(the Pakistani leadership) have nothing else to speak, but only Kashmir.
Whenever they go abroad, they try to raise only Kashmir issue, but every time
they miserably fail to get international attention. The cross-border shelling
is an indication of their frustration," he told reporters after meeting
civilians injured in the shelling at the Government Medical College Hospital.

A PTI
correspondent who visited some of the affected areas hit by the shelling saw
blood stained beds, torn off roof-tops and windows punctured by bullets besides
splinters of mortar bombs lying scattered around.

There
were some reports of people moving out of the affected areas, fearing fresh
attacks.

The
Pakistani troops also resorted to mortar shelling and firing on forward posts
along LoC in Bhimber Gali belt of Poonch district since 0830 hours today, a
Defence spokesman said.The Pakistani troops used small, automatic weapons and
mortar bombs to target the border hamlets and BoPs.29 of the injured have been
shifted to GMC hospital Jammu. Three others were brought dead, chief medical
officer of the hospital Dr Ritesh Shan said."We have always been the
sitting ducks on fire. The Pakistani side always attack the civilians in the
area and we become the worst sufferers," said 70-year-old Bira Devi.

A large
number of houses were damaged and livestock perished in the firing and
shelling, said Devender Singh, who was leading a team that shifted the injured
people to hospital during the heavy shelling.

"People
living in critical zones along the border will be evacuated," he said.The
BSF spokesman said that the force did not suffer any casualty.Congress and BJP
said the ceasefire violations by Pakistan were a "serious" issue and
it should desist from such activities."Whatever Pakistan is doing is
certainly a serious matter. And we want to tell Pakistan that indulging in such
activities is not good for that country," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
said.

Condemning
Pakistan's actions, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said it is
despicable that such incidents have occurred on Eid. "There cannot be
anything worse than this," the Congress leader said.

Party
leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, however,
asked why Modi government was "keeping silent".

"It's
most unfortunate that firing is going on from Pakistan side in Jammu and
Kashmir and at this juncture any firing from across the border is very
critical. It's most unfortunate that the Government is also keeping
silent," he said.There have been a dozen ceasefire violations along
Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir during the last 4 days.On Sunday,
Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by unprovoked and heavy firing on Indian
forward posts along LoC in Balnoie sub-sector of Poonch district.On October 4,
Pakistani troops resorted to firing and mortar shelling along LoC in Poonch
district, drawing retaliation from Army.On October 3, Pakistani troops and
rangers violated ceasefire in Gulmarg sector of Kashmir Valley and in Poonch in
which a girl was killed and six persons injured.On October 1 and 2, Pakistani
troops violated ceasefire 2 times along LoC in Poonch district resulting in
injuries to 6 people, including three women.

2) Two
women arrested in connection with Burdwan blast:

Two women
were arrested and remanded to police custody for two weeks on Sunday in
connection with the explosion at Khagragarh here that left two suspected
militants dead.Superintendent of Police S M H Mirza told PTI the two women --
Rajira Bibi alias Rumi hailing from Karimpur in Nadia and Amina Bibi hailing
from Lalbagh in Murshidabad were arrested from Khargragarh on Sunday morning.

Rajira
Bibi is the widow of suspected militant Shakil Ahmed, who was killed in the
explosion in a house at Khagragarh on October 2, while Amina Bibi is the wife
of Hasan Saheb, who was critically injured in the blast and is under treatment
at BurdwanMedicalCollege and Hospital.

They had
been detained on the day of the blast and were arrested on Sunday morning. They
were later produced before a local court which sent them to police custody,
Mirza said.

The CID
of West Bengal police is looking into possible involvement of terror outfits
such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami in the blast which
left two suspected militants dead. Rajira Bibi had said she and her husband
were staying in the house for about three months, while Amina Bibi had said she
was there for about one and a half months.

It is
suspected that the victims of the explosion were associated with a militant
outfit as a large number of watch dials, SIM cards, and other tools required to
make improvised explosive devices were found in the house, the police had said.

Besides
the two suspected militants who were killed another was injured in the
explosion which took place in a house at Khargragarh locality of Burdwan town
on October 2.One of the two had died on the spot and was identified as Shakil
Ahmed hailing from Karimpur in Nadia district. Another injured Sovan Mandal
died during treatment at BurdwanMedicalCollege and Hospital

3) Stop
praising Modi, Kerala Congress tells Tharoor:

The
Congress in Kerala on Friday warned Shashi Tharoor against praising Prime
Minister Narendra Modi but the former minister set the record straight holding
that he is a “proud Congressman” and had not even remotely endorsed the
“Hindutva agenda” of the Bharatiya Janata Party.Signalling that disciplinary
action would be contemplated against Tharoor if he kept on lauding Modi’s
initiatives, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice president M M Hassan said,
“As a first step, we are asking him to stop praising Modi as his stance went
totally against the Congress’s ideals.”Expressing strong displeasure, KPCC
president V M Sudheeran said Tharoor should not be oblivious of the fact that
he had been elected on a Congress ticket. “Tharoor should not forget the fact
that it is the Congress that made him a member of Parliament. He should refrain
from speaking against the party line,” Sudheeran said at Vatakara in Kozhikode
district.

Sudheeran
also indicated that, if necessary, disciplinary action would be initiated
against Tharoor after consulting other leaders if he kept on eulogising
Modi.Defending himself, Tharoor said his response to Modi’s call to support the
“Swachh Bharat” campaign would not mean that he even remotely endorsed the
BJP’s “core Hindutva” agenda and that he continued to be a “proud Congressman”.

“I am
astonished that anyone would suggest that I am pro-BJP. I have a 30-year paper
trail of published writings on my idea of India and my profound belief in
India’s pluralism,” Tharoor, a minister in the previous United Progressive
Alliance government and the second term MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said in a
Facebook comment.

“Being
receptive to specific statements or actions of BJP leaders does not remotely
imply acceptance of the party’s core Hindutva agenda. The PM pitched his appeal
as a non-political one and I received it in that spirit. I am a proud
Congressman and a proud Indian. In short, not pro-BJP, just pro-India,” the
former UN diplomat, said.Tharoor has responded positively to Modi’s invitation
to join the ambitious Swachh Bharat campaign but wanted it to be a sustained
programme instead of being “tokenism”.

4) A year
after Phailin, another storm heads towards Odisha:

Exactly a
year after the very severe cyclonic storm Phailin struck the state, another
storm is heading towards the Odisha coast.

“The
cyclonic circulation over Gulf of Siam and nearby region has already led to the
formation of a low pressure area over Tenasserim coast and adjoining Andaman sea
area. In next 24 hours, it may concentrate into a well marked low pressure and
further intensify to depression in subsequent 24 hours”, said Sarat Sahu,
Director, IMD (Indian Meteorological Department), Bhubaneswar."Our model
indicate further intensification into a cyclonic storm. The low pressure area
is located at around 1350 kms (kilometers) from Gopalpur and likely to impact
the Andhra and Odisha coast", he added.The exact area of movement will be
determined only after October 8 and 9. The state may experience heavy rainfall
from October 10.If formed into a cyclonic storm, it may be christened as
Hudhud, said the IMD official.

Interestingly,
Phailin, the very severe cyclonic storm that hit the Odisha coast on October 12
last year was also laid as low pressure area at Tenasserim coast.

The
cyclone had crossed Odisha and adjoining north Andhra Pradesh coast near
Gopalpur with a sustained maximum surface wind speed of 200-210 kmph
(kilometers per hour) gusting to 220 kmph.

The
Phailin storm and flood triggered by it had affected 13.23 million people in 18
districts of Odisha.

The
districts included Ganjam, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur,
Gajapati, Balasore, Bhadrak, Khurda, Cuttack, Keonjhar and Balasore. Ganjam had
suffered the most.As many as 18374 villages under 2164 gram panchayats in 171
blocks were hit. The storm and floods had damaged 419,619 houses.

Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore while Defence and Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley stands out as the richest minister with assets totalling
Rs 72.10 crore.Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu is among the union
ministers who has the least assets of Rs 20.45 lakh, according to the Assets
and Liabilities declared by the prime minister and other 44 members of the
Council of Ministers made public on Monday.Women and Child Development Minister
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,
has assets to the tune of Rs 37.68 crore. Minister of State for Coal and Power
Piyush Goyal has assets of Rs 31.67 crore and is closely followed by Minorities
Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla with assets to the tune of Rs 29.70 crore.

Law and
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has declared assets to the tune of Rs
14.91 crore, while Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has assets of Rs 3.34
crore.Railways Minister DV Sadananda Gowda is worth about Rs 4.34 crore, while
his junior Manoj Sinha has declared assets worth Rs 29.82 crore. Water
Resources Minister Uma Bharti has declared assets to the tune of Rs 1.62
crore.Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, who is the tribal face of the Modi
cabinet, has assets to the tune of Rs 1.77 crore, while Civil Aviation Minister
has assets worth Rs 3.32 crore.

Mirco,
Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra has assets to the tune of
Rs 72.11 lakh, while Prakash Javadekar has assets of about Rs 1.05 crore.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has assets to the tune of Rs 2.47 crore,
while Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot has assets
worth about Rs 2.08 crore.The youth face of Modi's cabinet, Human Resource
Development Minister Smriti Irani has declared assets of around Rs 4.15 crore,
while Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete has assets of Rs 1.66
crore.Minister of State for North East Gen V K Singh, who is the former army
chief, has declared assets worth Rs 68.76 lakh, while Commerce Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has assets to the tune of Rs 1.03 crore.

Minister
of State in Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh has assets of Rs 2.67 crore
while MoS Home Affairs Kiran Rijiju is worth around Rs 66.55 lakh. MOS Heavy
Industries P Radhakrishnan has declared his assets of around Rs 7.11 crore,
while MOS Tribal Affairs Mansukhbhai Vasava has declared his assets of around
Rs 69.49 lakh.Sudarshan Bhagat, the MOS for Social Justice and Empowerment, is
worth Rs 44.51 lakh

6) Land
deal nod Hooda govt's parting gift to Gandhi family: BJP:

Bharatiya
Janata Party termed the Haryana government's approval to the land deal between
Robert Vadra and DLF as its "parting gift" to the Gandhi family and
questioned the Bhupinder Singh Hooda dispensation for displaying
"haste" in clearing it.

The party
also attacked the state government for "shying away" from moving the
high court and instead "indulging in breach of hierarchy" in clearing
the deal."We see it as a parting gift to the Gandhi family before the
Haryana government of Congress loses it out," BJP spokesperson Sambit
Patra told reporters.He said before losing the government in Haryana, it is a
parting gift to the Gandhi family "from one syndicate to another
syndicate".Questioning the state government's haste in clearing the Vadra
land deal, he asked, "Why did the government of Haryana shy away from
going to the higher appealing authority, the high court in this case. Why was
the government in an absolute haste to solve the problem before a particular
date even when the two parties involved had no grievance."

Citing a
similar case where the Punjab and Haryana high court had questioned the state
government why there should not be a CBI probe into all the land deals, the BJP
leader said the case was withdrawn by the petitioner allegedly "under
pressure" from the state government.The BJP leader alleged that in the
present case, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner had issued orders on July 16 not to
follow the instructions issued by the Director General Consolidation, who had
cancelled the mutation of Vadra's land for which he had struck the deal with
DLF, and is the higher appealing authority under the law.

The DC,
he alleged, instead of moving the high court which is the appellate authority,
issued orders terming the DG Consolidation of Land's letter as "illegal,
void and without any jurisdiction"."This is akin to a lower court
saying that the higher court's jurisdiction should not be followed and that the
higher court's orders are erred and invalid...," Patra said.BJP also
accused the Haryana government of promoting front companies for builders for
"forcible and distress" sale of farmers land in the state as also for
making money through clearing CLUs (Change of Land Use)."What is the modus
operandi of the Haryana government in looting the people of their land in the
state," he questioned, alleging that the farmers are being forced to sell
their land in distress to builders.

Patra
alleged that the builders first approach the farmers for their land directly or
through their front companies, and after their refusal the government initiates
acquisition proceedings under Section 4 and Section 6 of the Land Acquisition
Act."There is forcible and distress sale of farmers land due to the threat
of acquisition," he said, claiming that the government gave benefits to
big families, including the Gandhi family."Knowing very well that a
non-corrupt government is going to take over in Haryana post-October 19, the
Congress' corrupt dispensation of Haryana has seemed to act in a haste that the
land the mutation of which was in dispute has legitimised and handed over as a
parting gift to the 'damaad' of the Congress first family," Patra said.

Asked
what its government in Rajasthan was doing in similar land deals in the state,
the BJP spokesperson merely said, "Probe is on and the law will take its
own course."He claimed that the BJP if voted to power in Haryana will
initiate a probe on such land deals and "the guilty will not be
spared".

7)
Jayalalithaa refused bail, Tamil Nadu continues to grieve:

Jailed
former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, undergoing four-year
imprisonment in a graft case, was on Tuesday refused bail by the Karnataka high
court which held that there were no grounds for it as corruption amounts to
“violation of human rights” and must be dealt with seriously.

The
order, that came as a blow to the 66-year-old All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam chief and shocked her supporters outside, was delivered by Justice A V
Chandrashekhara despite the Special Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh saying he
had no objections to grant of conditional bail to her.

There
“are no grounds” to give bail to Jayalalithaa. Corruption amounts to “violation
of human rights” and leads to economic imbalance, the judge observed in his
order delivered in a packed court room amidst tight security in the court
complex.

Jayalalithaa’s
lawyers are planning their next strategy on approaching the Supreme Court at
the earliest to challenge the order. AIADMK MP and lawyer A Navaneethakrishnan
said they are awaiting a word from Jayalalithaa who has been in the central
prison since her conviction on September 27.The judge said corruption had
become a “serious malady in human history” and noted that the Supreme Court has
repeatedly directed that graft cases should be disposed of on top priority
basis. He also held that there is no reason to extend the benefit of suspension
of sentence to the four accused, including Jayalalithaa.

Justice
Chandrashekhara said corruption should not be lightly dealt with. It had to be
dealt with seriously as otherwise, “it will become a disease in our
society”.The SPP had earlier filed objections to suspension of the sentence and
bail in writing but on Tuesday told the court during hearing that conditional
bail could be granted to Jayalalithaa and three others.As word of the SPP’s
stance spread, celebrations broke out among delirious AIADMK supporters near
the jail and the court as they burst crackers and danced in joy. But the
celebrations were shortlived, giving way to a state of shock when the verdict
was out. Women supporters wailed while some men laid themselves flat on the
road. Pleas by Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her relatives V N
Sudhakaran, also disowned foster son of former Tamil Nadu chief minister, and
Ilavarasi, for suspension of sentence and bail were also rejected by the court.

“My
client will take a call,” senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, who appeared for
Jayalalithaa, said after the verdict when asked whether they will approach the
Supreme Court.

Citing a
court judgment, Justice Chandrashekara said “the suspension of sentence and
grant of bail cannot be asked as a matter of routine (saying) that the accused
was on bail during the trial and did not misuse the liberties granted”.

Azmath
Pasha, counsel for Ilavarasi, said “tomorrow is holiday. We will get the
verdict copy on October 9 and file Special Leave Petition on October 10 in the
Supreme Court. All the four... we are approaching.”

Strongly
pleading for immediate bail to Jayalalithaa, Jethmalani cited several Supreme
Court verdicts, including the one granting relief to his client former Bihar
Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, in the fodder scam.

The court
did not accept the submission, with the judge noting that Lalu Prasad had spent
10 months in jail before being granted bail by the apex court.Jethmalani
pleaded for suspension of the sentence by the special court which had sent her
to four years in jail, pending her appeal against it.He also told the court,
which took up the matter on Tuesday after the vacation bench had adjourned it
on October 1, that the “regular practice” was to give bail. Jethmalani also
said appeals should be heard within a reasonable period of time. Criticising the judgment of the special
court in the Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate case, he said assets prior to the
period between 1991 and 1996 (when Jayalalithaa was chief minister) could not
be taken into account. There was nothing disclosed in the conduct of
Jayalalithaa to show that she might abscond, he contended.

Special
News : 5,000-year Harappan stepwell found in Kutch, bigger than Mohenjo Daro's:

A 5,000-year-old
stepwell has been found in one of the largest Harappan cities, Dholavira, in
Kutch, which is three times bigger than the Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro. Located
in the eastern reservoir of Dholavira by experts from the Archaeological Survey
of India working with IIT-Gandhinagar, the site represents the largest,
grandest, and the best furnished ancient reservoir discovered so far in the
country.

It's rectangular and
73.4m long, 29.3m wide, and 10m deep. Another site, the ornate Rani ki Vav in
Patan, called the queen of stepwells, is already on Unesco list. "This is
almost three times bigger than the Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro that's 12m in
length, 7m in width, and 2.4m in depth," said V N Prabhakar, visiting
faculty at IIT and superintending archaeologist, ASI.

"We will conduct
spot analysis in December as various surveys have indicated other reservoirs
and stepwells may be buried in Dholavira," Prabhakar told TOI. "We
also suspect a huge lake and an ancient shoreline are buried in the
archaeological site that's one of the five largest Harappan sites and the most
prominent archaeological site in India belonging to the Indus Valley
civilization," he added. Experts will investigate the advanced hydraulic
engineering used by Harappans for building the stepwell through 3D laser
scanner, remote sensing technology and ground-penetrating radar system.
"We will study how water flowed into the well and what was the idea behind
water conservation," said Prabhakar. The IIT Gandhinagar team and ASI
officials will also excavate various tanks, stoneware, finely furnished brick
blocks, sanitation chambers and semi-precious stones hidden at the site.
Precious stones like carnelian were in great demand during the Harappan era.
Gujarat was the hub of bead and craft manufacturing industries. "Agate
carnelian beads were also coveted," Prabhakar said.

Siddharth Rai and V
Vinod of IIT-Gn are working on characterization of internal structures of
various forms of pottery unearthed from the site to identify the diet followed
by Harappans. "Through pottery typology, we'll find out whether different
communities lived in Dholavira," Rai said. The team will also analyze
precious copper and bronze artefacts.

Indian
treasure, found in UK castle cupboard, up for grabs!

A Mughal-era manuscript filled with Indian miniatures discovered
locked up in a cupboard inside a rural England castle is now up for sale at
Sotheby's upcoming auction in London. Also on offer at the auction titled
"Art of Imperial India" scheduled for October 8 is a group of albums
containing historical black and photographs of India.

"The
contents of the sale are very eclectic. One very old manuscript with 140
miniatures in it was discovered in a cupboard in a castle owned by the Duke of
Northumberland," Edward Gibbs, Chairman and Head of the Middle East and
India departments at Sotheby's, London said.

"The
manuscript is quite splendid and looking at the miniatures is a very intimate
experience as it was locked up so it has been preserved in pristine condition
in its original binding and not subject to natural light or insects. It's an
exciting find for scholars and historians and those in auction business,"
Gibbs said. The illustrated book, which Gibbs says is "about the size of
an iPad" is likely to originate from end of 17th century.

"Interestingly
the manuscript contains an earlier portrait of Shah Jahan in his old age on
folio seven, and this appears to have been added at some point after the
production of the work," auctioneers said.

Towards
the end of the sale is featured a group of 31 albums containing over 2,000
photographs of India, Ceylon, Burma and South East Asia dating from the 1850s
to the early 20th century. Sourced from London-based collector Sven Gahlin,
provenances of the album date to the family of Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of
India among others.

"Gahlin
has been slowly putting together a collection of photos of India. He has been a
true pioneer in the filed going to flea markets, jumble sales and other sales.
The collection runs to thousands of photos of historical places, costume
studies of the courts of the maharajahs etc," Gibbs said.The photos,
according to auctioneers can be broadly categorised into three categories-
architecture, topographic images and generic subjects.It includes among others
"views and people in Bombay, Agra, Delhi, Amritsar, Darjeeling, Kashmir,
the Himalayas, Calcutta, and Ceylon."
Among the group photographs is one of the Maharajah of Kashmir and his
entourage, and one of another tribal leader.

A set of
photographs of the train for the Viceroy of India which was constructed in the
workshops of East Indian Railway Company 1902-1904. The images include a
exterior view of the train, and images of the interior including the viceroy's
office, bedroom, bathroom, the dining saloon, kitchen, servant's apartment and
guards compartment. It has been estimated to fetch Rs 151,454 to Rs 201,939.

Sports News
This Week:

1) Double
kabaddi gold for India on penultimate day of Asian Games

The
Indian men's kabaddi team clinched its seventh successive gold medal at the
Asian Games after coming from behind to beat a spirited Iran 27-25 in the
summit clash in Incheon, South Korea on Friday.

The
Indian team, which has been winning gold ever since the sport was introduced on
the Asiad roster in 1990, was given a massive scare by Iran, who had finished
runners-up in the 2010 edition as well.

The
Iranians took a massive 10-point lead in the first 20 minutes before the
Indians got their act together to nullify the deficit and edge past in the
closing few minutes of the match.Earlier in the day, the Indian women's team
beat Iran 31-21 for its second successive kabaddi gold medal at the Asian Games

5) Asian
Games 2014: India end mixed campaign in eighth position with 57 medals:

The medal
count went down but Indian sports still had lots to celebrate with the men's
hockey team coming good after a long time to strike gold even as the legend of
M C Mary Kom got bigger in a mixed Asian Games campaign for the country's athletes
here.Pistol shooter Jitu Rai and freestyle grappler Yogeshwar Dutt were among
the other heroes of the Games, where the Indian contingent entered with the aim
to better or equal the record medal haul of 65 fetched in 2010.

The huge
Indian contingent fell short of the target and emerged with a diminished tally
to its credit in this growing South Korean business hub. India secured 11 gold
medals, three fewer than what they collected in China four years ago, 10 silver
(including the upgraded one of Manju Bala in women's hammer) and 36 bronze for
a total haul of 57.

Four of
those gold medals came in athletics (two) and kabaddi (two) while archery,
boxing, hockey, shooting, squash, tennis and wrestling accounted for the
rest.The gold medal haul also placed India in the eighth position on the medals
table, two rungs below where they had finished in China.

The Nobel
Prize in Literature 2014:

Patrick
Modiano

Prize
share: 1/1

The Nobel
Prize in Literature 2014 was awarded to Patrick Modiano "for the art of
memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and
uncovered the life-world of the occupation".

Patrick
Modiano (born 30 July 1945) is a French novelist. He won the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 2014, having previously won the Austrian State Prize for
European Literature in 2012 and the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca from the
Institut de France for his lifetime achievement in 2010. His other awards
include the Prix Goncourt in 1978 for his novel Rue des boutiques obscures and
the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1972 for Les Boulevards de
ceinture.

Writing:

Modiano's
novels all delve into the puzzle of identity, of how one can track evidence of
one's existence through the traces of the past. Obsessed with the troubled and
shameful period of the Occupation—during which his father had allegedly engaged
in some shady dealings—Modiano returns to this theme in all of his novels, book
after book building a remarkably homogeneous work. "After each novel, I
have the impression that I have cleared it all away," he says. "But I
know I'll come back over and over again to tiny details, little things that are
part of what I am. In the end, we are all determined by the place and the time
in which we were born." He writes constantly about the city of Paris,
describing the evolution of its streets, its habits and its people

Books of
This Weeks:

Book
:Honeymoon:

Jean B.,
the narrator of Patrick Modiano's Honeymoon, is submerged in a world where day
and night, past and present, have no demarcations. Having spent his adult life
making documentary films about lost explorers, Jean suddenly decides to abandon
his wife and career, and takes what seems to be a journey to nowhere. He
pretends to fly to Rio to make another film, but instead returns to his own
Parisian suburb to spend his solitary days recounting or imagining the lives of
Ingrid and Rigaud, a refugee couple he had met twenty years before, and in whom
he had recognized a spiritual anomie that seemed to reflect and justify his
own. Little by little, their story takes on more reality than Jean's daily
existence, as his excavation of the past slowly becomes an all-encompassing
obsession.

Book : Out
of the Dark

Patrick
Modiano, the author of more than twenty books, is one of France?s most admired
contemporary novelists. Out of the Dark is a moody, expertly rendered tale of a
love affair between two drifters.

The
narrator,¯writing in 1995, looks back thirty years to a time when, having
abandoned his studies and selling off old art books to get by, he comes to
know Van Bever and Jacqueline, a young,
enigmatic couple who seem to live off roulette winnings. He falls in love with
Jacqueline; they run off to England together, where they share a few sad,
aimless months, until one day she disappears. Fifteen years later, in Paris,
they meet again, a reunion that only recalls the haunting inaccessibility of
the past: they spend a few hours together, and the next day, Jacqueline, now married,
disappears once again. Almost fifteen years after that, he sees her yet again,
this time from a distance he chooses not to bridge. A profoundly affecting
novel, Out of the Dark is poignant, strange, delicate, melancholy, and sadly
hilarious